Either bring or buy bear spray. Very, very active bears again this year. This may pose a bit of a problem for at one time, my dad and I would hike the Larch valley twice a year. I cannot remember when but some time ago, because of a couple of bear attacks, they put in a rule that you need to be in a party of six.

Berry bushes border trails, roads and campgrounds. Black and grizzly bears are feeding on berries right now.It is easy to surprise a bear that is focused on feeding. To reduce your risk:• Make noise while on trails.• Travel in tight groups.• Trail running and cycling place you at much higher risk. Travel very slowly. Do not wear earbuds.• Carry bear spray, ensure it is accessible, and know how to use it.• Watch for fresh bear signs such as scat. Be especially careful near berry patches.• If you see a bear, stay calm, back away slowly and leave the area. Never run.

Always meant to do Sulpher Mountain but never did. Really more of a hike then run but quick hike with the reward of great views.

Love Fairview Mountain - about 45 minute drive. Again, more of a hike in my opinion.

Closer to Banff and where the 5 Peaks Trail running series is held is the Canmore Nordic Center. Rundle's Revenge is also held there as is the Grizzly 50 K. http://www.albertaparks.ca/parks/kanana ... ctivities/ Tons off options and trails but if you go to the race sites, you can find combinations from 7 - 25 K or so.

Endless number of trails. The only problem is that my guess is 90+% of the users when there is not a trail race are mountain bikers. Now if you wanted to ride, you can rent a bike on site. http://trailsports.ab.ca/

Have not made it out there to mountain bike as my total focus is on road cycling - have a 152 K ride in about 40 days and then two weeks after that, a 160 K ride. My mountain bike skills range from barely adequate to they suck so I am not ready nor have to time to get to the mountains this year.

Sulfur Mtn is more of a hike rather than a run from what I recall. It is doable as a run, but I would suggested arriving early as it can get rather crowed & busy on the trail. There were some good trails to mtn bike on that were off the access road to the Banff Springs Hotel Golf Course and they would certainly be great for trail running as well. They follow the Bow River. I'm sure Turd would be able to further expand on this, as it has been a while since I was there in the summer. I do recall we could not do the trail that goes to Canmore due to high grizzly activity past a certain point.

There are also some good trails to run here on the west coast. If you are ever in Vancouver, I'm happy to hook-up and show you the beauty of Super Natural BC.

Stampie wrote:Sulfur Mtn is more of a hike rather than a run from what I recall. It is doable as a run, but I would suggested arriving early as it can get rather crowed & busy on the trail. There were some good trails to mtn bike on that were off the access road to the Banff Springs Hotel Golf Course and they would certainly be great for trail running as well. They follow the Bow River. I'm sure Turd would be able to further expand on this, as it has been a while since I was there in the summer. I do recall we could not do the trail that goes to Canmore due to high grizzly activity past a certain point.

There are also some good trails to run here on the west coast. If you are ever in Vancouver, I'm happy to hook-up and show you the beauty of Super Natural BC.

That is the Goat Creek Trial and there are some Grizzly Bears in the area. Famous Bear 148. As a side note, they are finally starting to remove some of the berry bushes closer to the town of Banff and Canmore on the more popular trails. I do not mean to alarm as there is even a very famous bear near West Bragg Creek. He is known as Cinnamon and has a reputation for as one person noted, being a dick. That is at times will decide he does not want to leave the trail and wonder off into the woods and instead will force mountain bikers to take a different route.

I also have to say ignorance was bliss. I would be hiking through these areas, sometimes by myself and as quiet as a mouse. No bear spray or bear banger, etc. Had no idea about bears or bear safety other then do run or climb a tree. Play dead and if it is a black bear fight back, a Grizzly cover your head and hope for the best.

A neat trail I am going to mountain bike next year but from my understanding, quite runnable. The nice thing about that is it is starting to be well traveled - got a lot of press around here so a little safer.

One more fun twist is that there is a fairly major fire west of Banff - no threat to the town but when the winds blow the right way, very nasty smoke. The smoke tends to be worse later in the day.

Stampie wrote:Sulfur Mtn is more of a hike rather than a run from what I recall. It is doable as a run, but I would suggested arriving early as it can get rather crowed & busy on the trail. There were some good trails to mtn bike on that were off the access road to the Banff Springs Hotel Golf Course and they would certainly be great for trail running as well. They follow the Bow River. I'm sure Turd would be able to further expand on this, as it has been a while since I was there in the summer. I do recall we could not do the trail that goes to Canmore due to high grizzly activity past a certain point.

There are also some good trails to run here on the west coast. If you are ever in Vancouver, I'm happy to hook-up and show you the beauty of Super Natural BC.

Someday I guess I'll have to take my kids out to BC... family is in Alberta so we don't tend to get any further than that!